St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church

49 St Marks Place | St. George | built 1901

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1844
March
St. Peter's dedicates an earlier church on this lot, the first Catholic church built on Staten Island
The parish began in April 1839, meeting in a gun factory in New Brighton under Rev. Ildefonso Madrono, and received this land in 1840. Its first church, an earlier building facing Carroll Place, was dedicated in March 1844 and was Staten Island's first Catholic church building. St. Peter's was the island's only Catholic parish until 1849, and more than half of its Catholic churches later began as offshoots.
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
1901
A neo-Romanesque church by Harding & Gooch replaces the one lost to fire
The first St. Peter's burned in the 1890s, and a new church went up in 1900-01 to designs by the firm of Harding & Gooch, working under the direction of Rev. Terrance Early. The large tan brick building with stone trim is arranged to make the most of its sloping lot, giving it a striking look both from the surrounding streets and from the harbor.
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
1919
The unfinished bell tower is completed as the Cardinal's Tower for John M. Farley
The tower on the church's west side was left cut short when the building was dedicated. In 1919 it was raised and completed as the Cardinal's Tower, honoring Cardinal John M. Farley, who served as a curate here in 1870-72. The three-stage tower carries clock faces on all four sides and an open arcade at the top.
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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